Guilty: Jury rules against William Woodward in Titusville killings

An in-depth look into what could have led William Woodward to gun down his neighbors, killing two and severely wounding one, on Labor Day in Titusville. By Stacey Barchenger and Tim Walters Posted Sept. 16, 2012

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The double murder trial at the Moore Justice Center in Viera of William Woodward of Titusville, seen standing near his attorneys, who is accused of shooting three of his neighbors, killing two of them on Labor Day of 2012.(Photo: TIM SHORTT/FLORIDA TODAY)Buy Photo

A Titusville man was convicted on two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder Wednesday.

A 12-person jury spent about eight hours Wednesday deliberating the state's case against William Woodward, 50. The State Attorney's Office said Woodward shot and killed Gary Hembree and Roger Picior and wounded Bruce "Tim" Blake in a neighborhood dispute on Labor Day 2012.

Woodward had been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, which meant he would have been eligible for the death penalty if he had been convicted. The jury instead chose convictions for two counts of second-degree murder, which could result in life in prison for Woodward.

Jury members were handed the case about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday by Circuit Judge Kelly McKibben. She allowed the jury members to go home after 5 p.m. The jury members were not sequestered, the State Attorney's Office said.

The State Attorney's Office rebutted the defense's self-defense claims, saying that Woodward was not under threat from Hembree, Picior or Blake at the time he dressed up in camouflage, crawled through the grass and began firing on the men in September 2012.

"There was no eminent threat" from the men who were shot, Assistant State Attorney Will Scheiner said Tuesday during closing arguments. "(Woodward) mounted the attack."

Woodward told authorities his neighbors had threatened to burn down his house, rape his daughter and attack him with a bat, the attorneys said. But none of that was happening when Woodward attacked, Scheiner said.

"The problem with self-defense in this case is it is legally deficient," he said.
The court previously rejected Woodward at a stand-your-ground defense hearing.

Woodward did not testify during the two-week trial. The jury heard his voice during recorded police interviews Woodward had with Titusville police detectives.

Lamaur Stancil is a breaking news reporter for Florida Today and TCPalm.com. He can be reached at 321-242-3662 or 321-987-7179. E-mail him at lamaur.stancil@tcpalm.com. Follow him on Twitter at @TCPalmLStancil.